Tepco finally admitted irregular sinking in Fukushima plant
On 7/21/2015, Tepco announced Fukushima plant area has irregularly sunk since 311.
It has been known that the reference point sank by 709 mm but Tepco has not reported the height above the sea level of each building.
The report reads Reactor 1 turbine building sank by 730 mm, Reactor 2 by 725 mm, Reactor 3 by 710 mm, Reactor 4 by 712 mm.
However the readings of reactor buildings were not published for some reason.
The buildings can be inclining due to this irregular sinking but the inclining degree has not been announced either.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_150721_08-j.pdf
Source: Fukushima Diary
Japanese Government – aided by the IAEA – puts nuclear victims at risk with forced resettlement scheme
The worst nuclear disaster in a generation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant – which began in March 2011 – is still very much an ongoing crisis that will not be solved for the foreseeable future. Most of the massive radioactive releases were carried out to the Pacific Ocean by the prevailing winds at that time of year. But, on the nights of March 15th and 16th, the winds turned carrying an enormous amount of radiation inland. Land, especially to the northwest of the crippled reactor site, was heavily contaminated.
Greenpeace investigations into areas where the Japanese government is intensively decontaminating with the intention of lifting evacuation orders by March 2017 have made a shocking discovery: in Iitate – one of the priority targets of the Abe Government’s plan – radiation dose levels are comparable to those in the 30km exclusion zone around Chernobyl. Even more surprising, this was true even around homes that had already been supposedly “decontaminated.”
What on earth would motivate the Japanese Government to do such a thing to the tens of thousands of nuclear victims and decontamination workers?
To answer that question, it is first important to understand a bit of background on Iitate: the region – referred to as Iitate Village – is actually a 200 km2 area of heavily forested hills, mountains, and lakes, interspersed with farm fields, and homes. It lies 28 – 47 km to the northwest of the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, in the direct path of the heaviest on-land radioactive fallout.
Although the Abe Government has stated on its website that it is “decontaminating” Iitate – even going so far as to say on the Ministry of Environment website that 100% of the forest has already decontaminated – you have to dig through several different pages to discover that they are only referring to about a ¼ of the land area of Iitate.
In other words, of the 200 km2 of Iitate Village only 56 km2 are targeted for decontamination. Of that tiny fraction, the percentage comprised of the 10-20m into the forests along the roads and around people’s houses has been supposedly completed.
Except even that small amount of the forest isn’t finished. Decontamination efforts in these small bits of forests were still ongoing in July 2015.
And what strikes you when you see it is not just the swarms of people raking away at the woodland floor and trimming blades of grasses by hand in these first 10-20m of forest along the roads, but the enormity of the vast mountains upon mountains of dense, lush forest stretching out behind them as far as the eye can see.
You feel sorry for them. You also admire their intensive effort, meticulous work, and commitment. They are working in sweltering heat, in full radiation suits, boots, gloves and masks; not even their eyes are visible. And they are doing intense physical labor for almost no impact. Many of these workers are the residents of other impacted areas, like Minamisoma, who lost their jobs in farming, forestry, fishing or services due to the nuclear disaster. So they are working in the only growing industry in the region: radioactive decontamination.
It’s surreal. And it’s heartbreaking.
On 27 March, 2011, Greenpeace radiation investigations in Iitate had revealed extremely high levels of contamination, which led our organisation to urgently recommend to the Japanese government the immediate evacuation of the more than 6000 residents. Until that point, the residents of Iitate had been told that evacuation was not required. Evacuation did not begin until 22 April. And still, eight weeks after the start of the accident, in early June, over 1200 people remained in Iitate. As a result, the people of Iitate were the most exposed to radiation of all citizens of Fukushima prefecture.
Iitate has since become an iconic area within the story of Fukushima: a constant reminder to the Japanese public and the international community that a major nuclear disaster is not confined to a small “emergency planning” zone around the reactor site. The impacts are far reaching, destroy entire regions and communities, rip people from the fabric of their lives, and cannot be repaired.
Over four years after the triple reactor core meltdowns and exploded containment buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the majority of the Japanese public has remained opposed to any nuclear restart. The country has been completely nuclear-free for nearly two years, thanks in large part to significant public opposition, in spite of the massive pressure from nuclear utilities and the Abe government on local city governments.
However, these utilities are massively powerful and the Abe government is wholly in bed with them.
In an effort to reduce public opposition, Abe has been pushing the pro-nuclear agenda to normalize the Fukushima nuclear disaster. If the public can be convinced that mere years after the worst nuclear disaster in a generation, citizens can go home and return to life the way it was before the disaster – with no additional health risks – then that is a powerful argument against those opposed to nuclear restarts.
The effort to minimize the impact of the disaster on the nuclear industry has been aided by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an agency charged with the promotion of nuclear energy in its charter. The IAEA has sought to downplay the radiological risks to the population since the early days in 2011. In fact, it produced two documents that can be said to have laid the primary foundation for Abe’s current policy of forced resettlement.
The reality is this myth making requires that the people of Fukushima prefecture – especially the people of Iitate – be the sacrificial lambs for the nuclear industry. This is not only wholly unjust, but is a violation of their human rights.
They have already been exposed to more radiation than any other population in the region. To deliberately force them back to areas where dose rates reach up to 20 millisieverts per year puts them at significant, unacceptable, and unnecessary risk.
After all, this is not the confusion that ensues after a nuclear disaster. This is a thought-out plan of forcing people back into their heavily contaminated former homes, no matter what the cost – both in wasteful, ineffective decontamination of these areas and in human health risks.
Compounding the gross injustice of the Abe Government’s forced resettlement policy, by focusing on creating a myth of a return to normalcy – and therefore investing vast amounts in expensive and futile decontamination – it is therefore utterly neglecting the contaminated areas that were never evacuated. Rather than addressing this urgent need to reduce the radiation risks to these populations, whom are currently living in contaminated areas, the government is more interested in deceiving the public in Japan and globally by creating illusions in places like Iitate.
What is clear is that the damage done to the people of Fukushima prefecture, and especially Iitate, is irreversible and irreparable. Their entire communities and way of life were destroyed by the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, with no prospect for a safe return in the foreseeable future.
At minimum, we as Greenpeace, demand: 1) no lifting of the evacuation order in Iitate; 2) Exemptions and Government support for those determined to return after having full and accurate information regarding the risks; and, 3) full compensation for their loss of livelihood, property, community, mental distress, and health risks incurred, so that they may fully support themselves to move forward to pursue whatever life they so choose.
To keep the victims of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in limbo, many crammed into tiny temporary housing cubicles, for nearly five years is inhumane. To force these citizens back into such heavily contaminated areas via the economic leverage the Government holds over them is a gross iniquity. And for the International Atomic Energy Agency to assist the Japanese Government in the propaganda war being waged on Fukushima victims not only undermines whatever credibility it may have, but amounts to it being an accomplice in a crime against the people of Japan.
Kendra Ulrich is Senior Global Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace Japan.
Source: Greenpeace
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/Fukushima-nuclear-victims-forced-resettlement-Iitate/blog/53584/
2015/07/21 Press Release: Greenpeace investigation exposes failure of Fukushima decontamination program
Abe’s forced return policy condemns residents to radiation risk
“Prime Minister Abe would like the people of Japan to believe that they are decontaminating vast areas of Fukushima to levels safe enough for people to live in. The reality is that this is a policy doomed to failure. The forests of Iitate are a vast stock of radioactivity that will remain both a direct hazard and source of potential recontamination for hundreds of years. It’s impossible to decontaminate,” said Jan Vande Putte, radiation specialist with Greenpeace Belgium.
“The Japanese government has condemned the people of Iitate to live in an environment that poses an unacceptable risk to their health. Stripping nuclear victims of their already inadequate compensation, which may force them to have to return to unsafe, highly radioactive areas for financial reasons, amounts to economic coercion. Let’s be clear: this is a political decision by the Abe Government, not one based on science, data, or public health,” he said.
Greenpeace conducted a radiation survey and sampling program in Iitate, including in its forests. One principle finding from the investigation is that the vast majority of Iitate will never be decontaminated, with most radioactivity deposited in the vast forested hills and mountains in the district. The enormous scale of the forests was revealed by UAV footage from the investigation. And even in the limited areas that have been decontaminated around people’s homes and land, and along roads, levels of radiation are still at unacceptable levels. The results show that current decontamination programs are failing to significantly reduce radiation levels, which remain high and unsafe for people to live.
Even after decontamination, radiation dose rates were measured higher than 2uSv/h on decontaminated fields, the equivalent of an annual dose higher than 10mSv/year or ten times the maximum allowed dose to the general public. In the untouched and heavily contaminated forests, radiation dose rates are typically in the range of 1-3uSv/h—high levels that will remain for many years to come. The only forest decontamination underway in Iitate is along public roads, where thousands of workers are removing contaminated soil and plants along a 10-20 meter strip. The Japanese government plans to lift restrictions in all of Area 2(2), including Iitate, where people could receive radiation doses of up to 20mSV each year and in subsequent years.
International radiation protection standards recommend public exposure should be 1mSv/year or less in non-post accident situations. The radiation limit that excluded people from living in the 30km zone around the Chernobyl nuclear plant exclusion zone was set at 5mSV/year, five years after the nuclear accident. Over 100.000 people were evacuated from within the zone and will never return.
Supporting the Japanese government in its policy of forced return to a radioactive environment is the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has promoted the early return of Fukushima citizens to evacuated areas. Not only is the IAEA’s radiation risk assessments based on flawed science, where they are deliberately understating the risks from radioactivity, they also have misrepresented the scale and effectiveness of the limited decontamination program including in Iitate.(3)
“Even after nearly thirty years, the 30km area around Chernobyl remains an exclusion zone. It’s a shocking indictment of both the IAEA and the Abe government, which reveals how desperate they are to create the illusion that returning to ‘normal’ is possible after a severe nuclear accident. Their position is indefensible and plans for a de facto forced return must be stopped,” said Mamoru Sekiguchi, energy campaigner at Greenpeace Japan.
The district of Iitate, which covers more than 200 square kilometers, located between 28-47km northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, was one of the most contaminated areas following the March 2011 catastrophe. Since 2014, tens of thousands of workers have been attempting to reduce radiation levels in some parts of Fukushima prefecture, including in Iitate, with little impact.
In early June 3.400 citizens of Iitate (more than half the population) called on the mayor of their community to reject the government’s plans. At the same time, they are currently within the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process, where they hope to secure reasonable compensation for the losses they have suffered.
“The gap between the amount of high and low compensation payments is widening drastically, and the Iitate village people will have to keep living a sad life in bitterness, separated from each other and away from their home. The Iitate people’s fate is another of numerous cases in the past where Japan abandoned its people, as with the Ashio mining pollution and Minamata disease. We can not allow this to happen again,” said Yasushi Tadano, the lawyer defending the people of Iitate.
Notes to Editor:
1 – The Prime Minister in Action: Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters, Friday, June 12, 2015 http://japan.kantei.go.jp/97_abe/actions/201506/12article1.html
2 – Areas in which the residents are not permitted to live (according to the Japanese government designation)
3 – “The IAEA Fukushima Daiichi Accident Summary Report: A preliminary analysis”, Jan Vande Putte, Kendra Ulrich, Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace Japan, May 28 2015, see http://www.greenpeace.org/japan/Global/japan/pdf/IAEA%20analysis%20by%20GP%2020150528.pdf. The IAEA assessment of health consequences and risks from the Fukushima Daiichi accident are based on the conclusions of the 2013 UNSCEAR report, which has been condemned by a former World Health Organisation radiation expert – Keith Baverstock – http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201412010036, accessed January 30th 2015.
Greenpeace documentation briefing link:
Video available at http://photo.greenpeace.org/Archive/27MZIFJ6SZGAZ.html
Photos available at http://photo.greenpeace.org/shoot/27MZIFJ6SXEBN
Data sheet at http://www.greenpeace.org/japan/Global/japan/pdf/20150721_Iitate_datasheet_ENG.pdf and http://www.greenpeace.org/japan/Global/japan/pdf/20150721_Iitate_soil_datasheet_BL.pdf
Source: Greenpeace Japan
Tokyo under fire for plans to speed return of Fukushima evacuees
As Japan aims to lift evacuation orders for many people forced from their homes by the Fukushima disaster, environmentalists say many areas still show highly-elevated levels of contamination and are unfit for habitation.
In a bid seen by critics as aiming to speed up reconstruction, the Japanese government is preparing to declare sections of the evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant a safe place to live. The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe intends to revoke many evacuation orders by March 2017, if decontamination progresses as hoped, meaning that up to 55,000 evacuees could return to the homes they abandoned more than four years ago.
Moreover, Tokyo recently announced that the 7,000 residents of Nahara, a town in one of the seven Fukushima municipalities completely evacuated following the nuclear crisis, will be able to return home permanently from September 5. How many residents of the settlement, which lies just 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the plant, will return, however, remains unclear as many still have mixed feelings, according to a recent poll.
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan, causing massive devastation and ultimately sending three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into meltdown. It was the worst atomic accident in a generation. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee amid fears of rising radiation, with more than 72,500 people – who used to live within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant – still living in temporary housing units.
Massive clean-up operation
In the meantime, government-run decontamination efforts are underway in 11 cities, with at least 20,000 people involved in the clean-up, according to the environment ministry. In the mammoth task, workers try to remove tons of contaminated surface soil, plants and leaves, placing them in bags or in one of the nearly 800 temporary outdoor storage facilities that have been set up across the disaster zone.
The operation also includes parts of the district of Iitate, which covers more than 200 square kilometers, and was one of the most contaminated areas following the March 2011 disaster. Since 2014, tens of thousands of workers have been attempting to reduce radiation levels in some parts of Fukushima prefecture, including in Iitate.
Mounting concerns
But while organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say such efforts have contributed to reducing radiation levels, many problems remain, especially when one considers the disposal of contaminated water in the plant and the fact that anyone living in the surrounding areas would be exposed to radiation levels of more than 20 millisieverts (mSv) a year.
The globally-accepted limit for radiation absorption is 1mSv per year, although the IAEA says anything up to 20mSv per year poses no immediate danger to human health. However, various studies have shown health impacts from exposure to lower levels. Moreover, critics argue that only residential areas are being cleaned in the short-term, and the worst-hit parts of the countryside are being omitted or are impossible to be decontaminated, like dense forests and mountains.
This development has raised concerns among environmentalist groups such as Greenpeace, who fear that radioactive contamination in Iitate district is so widespread and at such a high level that it will be “impossible for people to safely return to their homes.”
‘A vast stock of radioactivity’
“Prime Minister Abe would like the people of Japan to believe that they are decontaminating vast areas of Fukushima to levels safe enough for people to live in. The reality is that this is a policy doomed to failure. The forests of Iitate are a vast stock of radioactivity that will remain both a direct hazard and source of potential recontamination for hundreds of years. It is impossible to decontaminate,” said Jan Vande Putte, a radiation specialist with Greenpeace Belgium.
Based on its own investigation, Greenpeace claims that even after decontamination, radiation dose rates were measured higher than 2 micro Sv/h on decontaminated fields, the equivalent of an annual dose higher than 10mSv/year or ten times the maximum allowed dose to the general public.
“In the untouched and heavily contaminated forests, radiation dose rates are typically in the range of 1-3uSv/h – high levels that will remain for many years to come, said Greenpeace, adding that the only forest decontamination underway in Iitate is along public roads, where thousands of workers are removing contaminated soil and plants along a 10-20 meter strip.
Mamoru Sekiguchi, the group’s energy campaigner at Greenpeace Japan, put the situation into a broader perspective, arguing that even after nearly thirty years, the 30-kilometer area around he crippled Chernobyl plant in Ukraine remains an exclusion zone.
“It’s a shocking indictment of both the IAEA and the Abe government, which reveals how desperate they are to create the illusion that returning to ‘normal’ is possible after a severe nuclear accident. Their position is indefensible and plans for a de facto forced return must be stopped,” Sekiguchi said.
‘Helplessly inefficient’
Mycle Schneider, a Paris-based independent international energy and nuclear policy consultant, told DW that if the remaining dose levels were indeed between 1 and 3mSv per hour on average this would exceed the 1mSv limit applied in most of the countries. “As there is no threshold, meaning there is no safe level of exposure, the health risk to people would be significantly increased.”
The nuclear expert also slammed much of Japan’s decontamination activities, referring to them as “helplessly inefficient.” To explain his view, he said that while high pressure water would be applied to cleaning surfaces like parking lots, for instance, the used water wouldn’t be recovered, thus pushing contamination from one spot to the next.
In addition, Schneider pointed out that contamination levels were not static. “The mountains and forests that cannot even be vaguely decontaminated, will serve as a permanent source of new contamination, each rainfall washing out radiation and bringing it down from the mountains to the flat lands.”
No compensation?
Campaigners also claim the government’s plans mean that some people will have no choice but to go back to their abandoned homes given that they will trigger the ending of some compensation payments. “Stripping nuclear victims of their already inadequate compensation, which may force them to have to return to unsafe, highly radioactive areas for financial reasons, amounts to economic coercion,” said Vande Putte.
A similar view is shared by Schneider: “The decontamination program and the government plan to ‘allow’ for the return of inhabitants do have a very simple goal: reduce the amount of compensation being paid out to victims,” said the expert.
Tokyo Electric has paid some $40 billion (36.78 billion euros) in compensation to residents and expects to pay billions more to decontaminate the area and decommission the wrecked power station, a project that could take an estimated three decades, according to Reuters news agency.
Under the existing compensation scheme, the utility pays each evacuee about $1,000 (921 euros) a month for emotional distress. The assistance is to be cut off a year after the government lifts an evacuation order, said Reuters, citing a Japanese government draft.
Source: DW Akademie
http://www.dw.com/en/tokyo-under-fire-for-plans-to-speed-return-of-fukushima-evacuees/a-18597707
Latest Report on Radiation Levels in Fukushima 7/21/15
Vande Putte, Sekiguchi & Tadano: “Latest report on Radiation levels in Fukushima” Jan Vande Putte: Greenpeace Belgium Energy Campaigner, Radiation Protection Advisor
Mamoru Sekiguchi: Greenpeace Japan Energy Campaigner
Yasushi Tadano: Lawyer for Fukushima evacuees
~~~
Japan “decontaminates” areas slowly to allow 54,800 people to return home to previously evacuated area. Itate – most exposed area 230 square KM with 6,000 people. Miyakoji uSv/hr at one meter above ground. At around 8:00 – what about the Ground Water?
Lifting evacuation orders for 54,000 people. Scanning roads vs offroads. Impossible to decontaminate forrest, sodium iodide test, 11,500+ points tested ~ 96% higher than government standards.
30% of points above 1mS/hr contamination.
Choice of returning home or not,
Dam water used for agriculture. Ganbe dam sediment sampling of silt from July 2015.
Forest will Never be decontaminated. The rainwater flows down the side of the hills and collects below – near houses, etc. So you have Contamination – then they “decontaminate” just to be recontaminated.
Underestimating risk of living indoor vs. outdoor exposure.
The forests are considered “decontaminated”when they simply “decontaminate” 20 meters to the side of the forest. Nothing can be done in the forests themselves.
Wsate piling up.
3 million bags of contaminated soil (etc) have already piled up. They expect 20-30 million cubic meters of waste to accumulate “temporarily” – and the bags are ripping open. No permanent storage place selected yet. “temporary storage” defined as THIRTY YEARS.
Low level exposure discussions. Extremes not practical. ICRP vs. ECRR risk model (internal vs. external contamination). Lifetime exposure adds up.
Absolutely unacceptable levels of exposure.
Cesium-137 with a 30 year HALF LIFE is primarily in top 5 cm of soil.
Insects helping with decomposition decreasing.
Wild fires in chernobyl reliberating radioactive elements –
recreating imminent risks.
Plant mutations, cicada bugs sounds declined – depopulation.
Burning radioactive waste at a new plant – using a “filter”. Incinerators.
Plant mutations questions.
Compensation for displaced people to cease if they move back to their contaminated (decontaminated) homes. 100,000 yen/month “compensation” – not enough to restart in a new location – leading more people to require welfare.
Citizens told to smile, be happy and don’t complain while they attempt to restart Sendai Nuclear Power plant (TEPCO) in an earthquake zone and very close to an active Volcano that just blew.
All the contamination – but what about the compounded social disaster that follows?
Government abandons people. “Normalization” strategy – ignore it and everything will be fine. Smile and shut up.
Disrupting people’s lives – Sendai NPP restart.
https://youtu.be/-3uFC4S3h2c Vande Putte, Sekiguchi & Tadano: “Latest report on Radiation levels in Fukushima”
Fukushima No. 1 still has 7,000 tons of problematic toxic water to be removed
Some 7,000 tons of radioactive water at risk of leaking into the ground still has to be removed from underground tunnels and other locations at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. is trying to get rid of tainted water from the cable tunnels for reactors 2 and 3. That work is expected to be mostly completed by the end of this month.
As of Monday, such water could still be found in at least 16 such locations at the plant, where three reactors suffered a meltdown after being heavily damaged in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
According to Tepco, numerous underground tunnels, ducts and pits hold radioactive water, in addition to the reactor and turbine buildings. Some of the water is more radioactive than the contaminated water already in storage tanks.
The highest levels of radioactive substances contained per liter were 990 becquerels of cesium-134 and 3,200 becquerels of cesium-137, more than 60 times higher than the provisional standards for water Tepco may discharge within the plant site.
The tunnels and ducts are not designed to hold water and therefore have a higher risk of leakage than storage tanks.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority has urged Tepco to immediately remove the water in the cable tunnels for reactors 2 and 3 due to extremely high levels of radioactive materials it contains and the high risk of the tainted water leaking into the ocean. These tunnels are located relatively close to the Pacific shoreline.
Levels of radioactive materials in the water in other tunnels and ducts are substantially lower, and such facilities are located away from the ocean. Still, due to the lack of sufficient monitoring, it would be hard to immediately detect a possible leak.
An official of the secretariat of the NRA said, “Tepco needs to tackle the problem of this tainted water, which it has so far failed to address.”
Source: Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/07/21/national/fukushima-1-still-7000-tons-problematic-toxic-water-removed/#.Va5V-xNViko
Highest Strontium-90 density detected in seawater of Fukushima plant port / 1,500,000 Bq/m3
From Tepco’s report published on 7/17/2015, Strontium-90 density in seawater of Fukushima plant port became the highest since they started measuring.
The sampling location was between water intake of Reactor 3 and 4, and also screen of Reactor 4, which are in front of Reactor 3 & 4.
The samples were collected on 6/1/2015. This analysis result has not been published for over a month.
1,500,000 Bq/m3 of Strontium-90 was detected from both of the samples.
The previous highest reading was 1,000,000 Bq/m3, which was detected at the same sampling location on 5/4/2015.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2015/images/2tb-east_15071701-j.pdf
Source: Fukushima Diary
Highest Strontium-90 density detected in seawater of Fukushima plant port / 1,500,000 Bq/m3
Fukushima Daiichi Decommissioning: Follow The Money
Are the meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi over? The answer is no. In Fairewinds’ latest video, Chief Engineer and nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen updates viewers on what’s going on at the Japanese nuclear meltdown site, Fukushima Daiichi. As the Japanese government and utility owner Tokyo Electric Power Company push for the quick decommissioning and dismantling of this man-made disaster, the press and scientists need to ask, “Why is the Ukrainian government waiting at least 100 years to attempt to decommission Chernobyl, while the Japanese Government and TEPCO claim that Fukushima Daiichi will be decommissioned and dismantled during the next 30 years?”
Like so many big government + big business controversies, the answer has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with politics and money. To understand Fukushima Daiichi, you need to follow the money.
Source: Fairewinds
The Fukushima Radionuclides Polluting the Pacific, Causing Extinction Events
R&D on Treatment and Disposal of Radioactive Waste resulting from Accident at Fukushima Daiichi NPS
Here are isotopes of interest from the Fukushima Daiichi man made nuclear disaster.
This is what has polluted the Pacific, caused extinction events and will continue to, and the industry has nothing but profit for it all.
The following radionuclides are selected referring to the radionuclides for evaluation in the existing disposal system
γ-ray nuclide : 60Co, 94Nb, 137Cs, 152Eu, 154Eu
β-ray nuclide : 3H, 14C, 36Cl, 41Ca, 59Ni, 63Ni, 79Se, 90Sr, 99Tc, 129I, 241Pu
α-ray nuclide : 233, 234, 235, 236, 238U, 237Np, 238,239,240,242Pu, 241,242m,243Am, 244,245,246Cm
Sources:
http://irid.or.jp/_pdf/20150421_2.pdf
Special thanks to Richard Wood
TEPCO to Resume Fukushima Daiichi Reactor One Protective Cover Removal on July 28
TEPCO will start dismantling the cover on July 28.
TOKYO (Sputnik) — Japanese utility company TEPCO will resume work to remove a protective cover from the stricken Fukushima reactor building in late July, a public Japanese broadcaster said.
A dome was installed over Reactor No.1 in 2011 to stop radioactive particles from escaping into the atmosphere after the facility suffered a meltdown when a tsunami caused by a powerful earthquake crippled the Fukushima nuclear plant.
According to the NHK broadcasting organization, the operator will begin dismantling the cover on July 28 if weather permits.
TEPCO began preparatory work to dismantle the protective cover over the Reactor 1 building in May. The preparations began with anti-dispersal agents poured through holes in the cover’s roof to prevent radioactive dust from escaping into the surrounding environment during the dismantling process.
Dismantling has been delayed several times due to technical failures.
Source: Sputnik News
Radioactive water from Fukushima plant escapes – 1,100 becquerels of beta-ray emitting radioactive substances.
The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has found that radioactive water has overflowed from a drainage channel, spilling into the sea. This is due to heavy rain.
Workers at the complex discovered the leak at around 8:40 AM on Thursday.
The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, said rainwater samples taken from the channel about 2 hours later contained 830 becquerels per liter of radioactive cesium. That’s above the government standard for water allowed to be released into the sea.
The water also had 1,100 becquerels of beta-ray emitting radioactive substances.
An approaching typhoon has been bringing intermittent heavy rain around the plant. The utility suspects that the rain has washed away mud and soil that also contains radioactive materials.
It also presumes the amount of rainwater has exceeded the pump’s capacity.
The leak was continuing as of 5 PM. But the firm says it cannot stop the spill anytime soon and has been monitoring the density of the radioactive substances.
Radioactive rainwater spilled into the sea from the same channel in February. The company built a barrier at channel’s downstream to pump up water before it leaks into the sea.
Source : NHK
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150717_01.html
Cover of Fukushima reactor 1 building to be removed
The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has decided to resume work to dismantle the cover of the No.1 reactor building later this month.
The work is part of efforts to decommission the facility, which suffered a meltdown after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
A hydrogen explosion damaged the No.1 reactor building. Tokyo Electric Power Company installed the cover to prevent radioactive material from dispersing.
The utility initially planned to start dismantling the cover last year to clear away radioactive rubble and remove spent nuclear fuel stored at a pool inside the building.
The plan was postponed several times after people expressed concern about the dispersal of radioactive substances.
Engineers also found a problem with a device that controls the air flow in the building when dismantling work was set to begin in May.
The engineers say they have addressed the problem. TEPCO decided to resume the dismantling work on July 28th as long as weather conditions permit.
As part of the plan, chemical agents will be sprayed to prevent radioactive dust from being released into the air.
Engineers plan to remove the six roof panels in about 4-months’ time.
Source : NHK
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150716_01.html
Contamination of groundwater and sea discharges
The tritium contamination of the control well No. 10 upstream of the reactors continues to rise and has just beaten two new records with 1,800 Bq / L (sampling of 6 July) and 1,900 Bq / L (sampling of 9 July).
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2015/images/pump_well_15070802-j.pdf
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2015/images/pump_well_15071101-j.pdf
These are the fourth and fifth successive records.
This exceeds the limit for dumping at sea, which is 1 500 Bq / L, but TEPCO relies on dilution with water from other wells:
The tritium contamination of the waste water dumped into the sea is around 100 Bq / L.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2015/images/weighted_average_150707-j.pdf
Further upstream, the tritium contamination of groundwater can reach 20 000 Bq / L in the E10 control well (sampling of 7 July).
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2015/images/around_h4_15070901-j.pdf
At the foot of the reactors, the tritium contamination also broke a record in the control well No. 3 with 8,500 Bq / L (sampling of 1 July)
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2015/images/2tb-east_15070601-j.pdf
The cesium also broke its own record in the control well 1-8 with respectively 170 and 670 Bq / L for cesium-134 and -137 respectively (levy of 6 July).
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2015/images/2tb-east_15070701-j.pdf
Cesium contamination of the seawater at the mouth of the port continues to oscillate.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2015/images/port_entrance_150711-j.pdf
Furthermore, Fukushima Dairy reported that the frozen underground wall in the testing phase at the foot of reactor No. 4 does not take after two months of cooling. This is bad news because TEPCO will not be able to limit groundwater infiltration leaking.
http://fukushima-diary.com/2015/07/underground-wall-not-frozen-for-2-months/
Source: L’ACROnique de Fukushima
http://fukushima.eu.org/contamination-de-leau-souterraine-et-rejets-en-mer/
Fukushima Daiichi is using highly toxic chemical: Hydrazine
The Recent Roadmap reports on activity at the plant have shown that hydrazine is still in use. Japan has had their own reporting rules for hydrazine use since 2006. The rules require closed tanks and measures to reduce releases.
Hydrazine is considered a dangerous chemical, Some of the health problems it can create: “Symptoms of acute (short-term) exposure to high levels of hydrazine may include: irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, coma in humans. Effects to the lungs, liver,spleen, and thyroid have been reported in animals chronically exposed to hydrazine via inhalation. Increased incidences of lung, nasal cavity, and liver tumors have been observed in rodents exposed to hydrazine.
In 2008 the US shot down a spy satellite due to the hydrazine tank on board. The 1.4 meter tank contained half a ton of hydrazine, used as rocket fuel. NASA confirmed that the risk of the frozen tank of hydrazine falling to earth, then thawing and evaporating was a serious risk to the public.
There are also serious environmental concerns:
“Due to the extreme corrosive potential of this chemical and its reactivity with moisture and oxidants, Hydrazine in the environment is of great concern. While the ecotoxicity is not known, the products of biodegradation of Hydrazine are more toxic than the parent compound. Potentially hazardous short and long term degradation products are to be expected (MSDS 2005).”
***It is also toxic to the marine environment above certain concentrations.***
TEPCO’s new report shows that they are continuing to use hydrazine in the reactors and spent fuel pools at Fukushima Daiichi. Units 3′s spent fuel pool still has open access to the environment. Unit 3′s containment vessel is known to leak to the environment through the reactor well. Units 1 and 2 have the same problem but are currently covered and have the exhaust air run through a HEPA filter bank.
Since the water injected into the reactor vessels eventually mixes with groundwater and to some extent still leaks to the ocean, this is another potential release to the environment. TEPCO reports the use of hydrazine and the intention to continue to use it through September in their new report. They also confirm the use of the chemical in all four spent fuel pools.
There is no public accounting for the amounts of hydrazine used. No estimate of how much might leak to the environment through evaporation, containment leaks or through groundwater leaks has been conducted. TEPCO has also not publicly documented if they have any way of safely removing hydrazine from the contaminated water processed at the plant site.
Source:
(587450936) roadmap cooling injection d150625_10-j.unlocked.pptx
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16MBOBw7k2FxgeWTGl_C65A_VgFBh6ptSwT39ouQm7Ik/edit#slide=id.p3
Cs-134/137 detected from all of the marine soil samples along Eastern Japan coastal area
From the report of NRA (Nuclear Regulation Authority), Cesium-134/137 was detected from 32 of 32 marine soil samples taken this May.
The sampling locations are offshore of Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiba Prefecture. The report was published on 7/13/2015.
The report says the samples were taken from 30m depth to 660m and collected by Marine Ecology Research Institute (MERI) and analyzed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA).
Cs-134 was not detected from only one sample. Cs-134 was measured from all the rest of the samples.
The highest reading was 164 Bq/Kg in total of Cs-134/137. The sampling location was approx. in 40km South East of Fukushima nuclear plant.
Other nuclides such as Sr-90 and U-235 were not even tested. They did not collect samples from Tokyo Bay either.
http://radioactivity.nsr.go.jp/en/contents/11000/10000/24/458_20150713.pdf
Source: Fukushima Daiichi
Cs-134/137 detected from all of the marine soil samples along Eastern Japan coastal area
1 This Month
petition to oppose the rapid increase of space-military industry threatening Jeju Island and the region.
[Petition by April 19th (KST)] Stop the joint military-Hanwha Systems-Jeju Provincial Government Sea Launch!
World Nuclear Power. Reactors 1951-2026, 75 Years of Nuclear Power.
Interactive Map– https://dv.worldnuclearreport.org/
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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